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FallGuide2009

Four play

A little beast at the Middle East                    
By MICHAEL BRODEUR  |  July 8, 2008
neptunecloseupINSIDE.jpg
Neptune

We don’t want to be known as the paper that cried, “Holy Cow! Local rock is on fire!” (and I’m not even sure what the realistic odds of that would be), but we’re dead serious this time. There’s a ton of imagination and energy at work in town redefining (for the umpteenth time) what Boston sounds like, and to judge from the four local outfits in the whizbang of a line-up next Thursday (July 17) at the Middle East upstairs, Boston is a little scary. Good scary, though. On-fire scary.

Neptune, “Grey Shallows”
This show is an excellent chance to catch the Neptuners before they collectively vamoose for the sundry fests of Spain, France, and the UK. Here’s an iron hot for the striking: witness the video for the ruthless, buzzing panoply of “Grey Shallows.” Your bathtub never felt dirtier.

Ho-Ag, “Doctor Cowboy”
We tooted horns for Ho-Ag here when they dropped Doctor Cowboy a couple of months ago, and wouldn’t you know it, that thing’s still all up in our earbuds. Especially this title track. Fans love Ho-Ag for their reliable proximity to chaos, but here they offer a darker, slacker, moodier sound that — oh wait — goes and gets all chaotic. Still awesome. Don’t short the value of trustiness.

Bone Zone, “Perching On The Beam”
Watch out — don’t accidentally tap over towww.bonezone.dk. Folky banjos
from hirsute Danes don’t really come close to the epic, frenetic antipop of our own Bone Zone (a/k/a Kevin Driscoll). You can nab his entire eight-minute show from his Web site, and if it isn’t to your liking, download the parts (beats and samples, guitar and bass, a cappella) and jimmy up one that is. You see? This isn’t about him. It’s about you.

Summerduck, “Stand. Look. Trust.”
It won’t be long before Summerduck can jettison their ex-members-of taggage, but for now, check out this new band from Farhad Ebrahimi, formerly of (hankies out) the defunctified Night Rally. Slow, lurchy, heavy, deep, dreamy, and weird, it doesn’t sound like Night Rally, their creepy next-door-neighbors’ band, or anyone else in town. Yell “quack quack!” at their show and receive a complimentary escorted exit.

Related: Boston's Best City Life 2009, Boston's Best Food and Drink 2009, Boston's Best Arts and Entertainment 2009, More more >
  Topics: Download , Kevin Driscoll, middle East Upstairs, Farhad Ebrahimi
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ARTICLES BY MICHAEL BRODEUR
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  •   ON A ROLL  |  September 22, 2009
    When I go bowling with bands, it’s usually to extract them from their natural habitat and place them in a controlled environment for study. In the case of my recent bowling date with Hallelujah the Hills, though, my aim was true. I just wanted to bowl.
  •   SAD HITS  |  September 16, 2009
    The cover of Damon & Naomi: The Sub Pop Years is framed like a Polaroid, and the image itself — a bluish superimposition of Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang — reads like an unfinished double exposure on old film, the pair caught mid bloom.
  •   GUS GUS | 24-7  |  September 15, 2009
    Letting the music take control is a primary tenet of the dance-floor ethos — but that's only because dance music is by nature submissive. Even at its most sonically rich, dance music remains a utility, and even when it demands your attention, it does so in service to your good times.
  •   OFF THE RECORD?  |  September 14, 2009
    Pity the album. After a half-century of embarrassingly public body issues, our essential rock unit has not entered the new millennium looking very healthy. EPs are way more in vogue, MP3s have intangibility on their side, and 12-inches just sound impressive.
  •   REVIEW: POLVO | IN PRISM  |  September 09, 2009
    All a-bubble over my first listen to In Prism , I took to the Internet, where I learned that the album "is required listening for any bands still using guitars."

 See all articles by: MICHAEL BRODEUR

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